Social Housing Versus Green Spaces

Real tension is arising in many parts of London, between the need of councils to build more social housing and the desire of residents to retain what little green space they have (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/30/protests-grow-against-new-council-homes-on-green-spaces-in-london). Nimby ('Not In My Back Yard') is a term often applied to people who resist 'necessary' development. In areas like Lewisham, Kilburn and Peckham, councils are keen to build new housing to take people out of bed and breakfast accommodation. This is often easiest to do on land already owned by those councils. This seems to frequently involve removing mature trees, reducing the sizes of exercising areas, repurposing gardens etc. The residents feel that the quality of their environment is being sacrificed. They certainly cannot be all be dismissed as 'Nimbys'. Residents point out that many of their houses and flats do not have gardens. They also maintain that some of the proposed areas for building, are spaces where they have traditionally met and played. Some are in areas where atmospheric pollution is already high. Perhaps there needs to be a wider consideration of where the essential social housing can go, whilst retaining as much as possible green space? The Covid19 pandemic ought to have taught councils about the need to keep areas 'liveable'.